Professional media practitioners must place priority on accuracy of news over speed in publishing it.

Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) CEO Datuk Chamil Wariya said it was important that news was verified by official sources before it was published so that wrong information was not given to the public.

"It is a challenge today, professional journalists have to compete with 'citizen journalists' who spread information quickly even though it has not been verified," he told reporters at the National Media Forum 2015 here Tuesday.

However, he said journalists must also place importance on the speed of accurate news for the sake of their own credibility and that of their organisation.

"This is the dilemma of present-day professional journalists, whether they want to be fast but with wrong information, or to take some time to check the information before disseminating it."

However, Chamil hoped the public could assess the information they received quickly but which had not been verified.

He said the public should choose verified news from media sources which could be trusted.

"It will 'kill' the ways of the 'citizen journalists' if the public prefer accurate news before sharing them or re-posting them on the social media or their blogs," he said.

Chamil was one of the panelists at the MPI's second forum, with the theme 'Direction and Future of Journalism in Malaysia'.

Among the media personalities who participated in the forum were veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin and Editorial Executive Advisor of Karangkraf Media Group Datuk Abdul Jalil Ali, as well as Head of the Advisory Council of the Indonesian Journalists Association, Tarman Azam.

The forum was attended by almost 100 people, including media practitioners, journalists, academics and media communications students.